Jeff Mitchell: Can or will SPD bridge its 'trust gap'?

I think it's great that Police Chief Kelly McMillin has called for a U.S. Department of Justice community relations person to come in and help the embattled Salinas Police Department mend fences with city's large and diverse Latino community.

But it's also a bit sad that it's taken three fatal officer-involved shootings to force the issue.

We talk a lot about how emaciated this department is. How it no longer has the time and resources to perform some of the most basic police services that you'd find in other cities.

To get a cop around these parts on some shifts, guns have to be smoking or you have to be bleeding for cryin' out loud – and that's just not right.

Mind you, it's not McMillin's fault and it's not the fault of the rank and file officers out there, either.

After all, it was us who elected city council after city council who have sat on their hands and done little to nothing as the city's financial condition spiraled into the ground. Keep in mind, too, that this city's financial de-evolution has been in the works for years if not decades now.

Sure we could blame this on the politicos – and by and large we should always hold their feet to the fire – but we must always ask this of ourselves: How many times do we have to touch a hot stove before realizing we're getting burned?

In the aftermath of these tragic officer-involved incidents, I noticed too that the city has stepped up its involvement with Spencer Critchley, the city's former part-time PR consultant and the leader of the Monterey-based firm, Boots Road Group LLC. To Critchley's credit, his presence was almost immediately felt within the Monterey County media.

And that's good. The department should have a proactive and assertive representative that actually has sweated a deadline or two before (or at least knows someone who has) and someone who can discern real working journalists from all the posers.

Critchley, who is now the police department's full-time acting public information officer, is also a bit of a spinner. His primary job right now is to try to pick up this department's beaten down reputation.

By the way, Critchley, who signed a new contract with the city in early February, will earn $35,000 through January 2015 according to documents obtained by The Californian through the California Public Records Act.

Interestingly, Critchley's new agreement with the city does not specifically spell out his working with the police department as an acting public information officer. But given all the you-know-what-hitting-the-fan lately, his assignment to the department isn't all that surprising.

But like anything that really matters, it won't be just political spin that saves this department. It won't be just words either.

Whether this department can ever forge a trusting relationship with the people it is charged to protect and serve is going to be dependent on actual deeds.

It will depend on cops getting out of cars and actually talking with people in a respectful, friendly way. It will depend on these overworked officers to somehow find the energy and the time to become an intimate part of the community.

And all of that is far easier said than done. When you have some shifts where some officers aren't getting bathroom breaks, getting out of your vehicle and doing the hearts-and-minds stuff is a little difficult.

I think, ultimately, that the department's future also will depend on whether it is willing to give up some of its power and authority to the citizens themselves in the form of a real citizens police review/oversight board.

Only then will peace be restored, trust established and the many old "us versus them" scars be allowed to heal.

SPD needs to stop investigating itself

As mentioned above, McMillin gets kudos for sending the completed investigatory files of these officer-involved shootings to the FBI and to the U.S. Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division for official review.

It's both a smooth and smart move by our able young chief.

But here's my issue with it: Short of some obvious foresensic or investigative blunder, these federal departments will making their collective judgments based of the quality of the work performed by ... wait for it ... the Salinas Police Department.

See what I'm getting at?

In the end, the bottom line remains the same – there's just no way a department can investigate its own cases without the conclusions being skewed, naturally, by institutional bias.

– and speaking of good cops getting involved –

So the folks at Everett Alvarez High were getting all ready to stage their sober graduation party this week and then an awful thing happened.

Some fool broke into the house of a volunteer for the event earlier this week and stole some $2,000 in cash – cash paid for by graduating seniors who just wanted to make one last trip together – a 'field trip' so to speak to the Great America amusement park – a nice one.

Those seniors will have the tassles on their mortar boards turned during a commencement ceremony scheduled today.

I was contacted about the situation by Salinas police Sgt. Gabe Carvey, president of the Salinas Police Officers Association – the department's largest employee union. He said the POA will gladly match up to $1,000 all contributions in support of Alvarez's sober grad night field trip efforts.

As of this writing it's not 100 percent clear if the Alvarez kids will still be able to go on their field trip – I sure hope they can. But, regardless, any donation you can make will be glady accepted.

To contribute or help out, please call Officer Raul Rosales at 831-206-7588 or Carvey at 831-484-3097. Thanks!

Jeff Mitchell covers Salinas Valley politics and government. Under the Dome, an opinion column, appears Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday in print and online. Email him at jemitchell@thecalifornian.com. For quick political hits, check out Under the Dome – The Blog, available most every day at: www.theCalifornian.com